Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Just when you didn’t think League of Legends could get any
bigger, they have successfully lobbied with the US Citizen and Immigration Services to begin issuing visas for professional gamers for tournaments. The
visas are good for individual players only and are temporary, but this is a big
leap forward not only for Riot’s fame, but in recognizing gaming as a sport. It
may not be basketball, but you know what? Curling is a sport. Chess is a sport.
Scrabble is a sport. So why not gaming?

Dustin Beck, the VP of eSports at Riot, was glad to see that
the ruling was in their favor. Even Canadians coming to the US for tournaments
would get held up by customs trying to prove that the reason for their visit
was for a sporting event. In this case, playing a game tournament. Going
through the process multiple times a year is a burden mentally and financially
for gamers. Many eSports professionals do this as a job. They make a living
playing games. Missing a few tournaments because of custom hold ups can affect
their livelihood.

The change can, over time, apply to other groups such as the
Major League Gaming association. Even world-wide tournaments such as Starcraft could potentially loosen up the
restrictions that hold back other gamers from joining. So while this may not
been a hoorah moment, it does give us something to think about: gaming is
becoming a more legitimate sport that the government recognizes it.